This invention relates to waste disposal systems, and more particularly relates to waste disposal systems of the type having a waste diverter apparatus for selectably feeding a pair of waste compactors or the like from a single waste supplying chute.
A refuse disposal system having a pair of trash compactors and a trash diverter for selectively directing waste material to either one or the other comparator by means of a single swinging or pivoting diverter gate is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,784. However, a number of serious drawbacks are inherent in the single pivoting gate construction disclosed therein. Should waste material become backed up over the gate, the gate may become jammed, thus blocking access to the second compactor just when such access is needed. Furthermore, the use of a single pivoting gate permits only an either-or selection, without the capability of blocking access to both compactors or permitting waste to be fed to both compactors simultaneously.
The concept of a switch or valve employing a pair of gates is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 389,589, 498,558, and 782,485 as well as in German Pat. No. 1,217,865. These various gating mechanisms, typically for use in coal chutes or grain elevators, all use vertically movable gates driven by gears, ropes, levers and the like, and are generally unsuitable for use in waste disposal systems.